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WEST LAFAYETTE – It was a bit odd, Jagdish Patel said, when someone identifying themselves as from the Tippecanoe County Health Department paid for a guest to stay at the Prestige Inn, his motel on West Lafayette’s Sagamore Parkway, and then told the staff not to get too close to the man.

Patel said the motel staff checked the man into a room Tuesday, but he wondered.

The red flags really went up when West Lafayette police officers arrived later in a half-dozen patrol cars, checking in on the man, while conspicuously and deliberately keeping their distance.

“I mentioned, ‘Why was all this happening?’” Patel said. “Usually, you see police with someone they want, and they are close enough to put handcuffs on.”

The second time police came Tuesday, he figured it out, even if the health department wasn’t giving specifics: The man, equipped with an ankle monitor, was being restricted in one of the Prestige Inn rooms, quarantined for a possible case of the highly contagious coronavirus.

Tippecanoe County Health Department officials weren’t sharing much about who was involved in the case. And neither were West Lafayette police, who delivered a court order to the Prestige Inn address Tuesday afternoon, according to police logs that day.

Court order came after patient was unwilling to comply

But Randy Vonderheide, the county health department’s attorney, confirmed Thursday that he’d gone to a Tippecanoe County judge this week to get an order to quarantine a patient who hadn’t been willing to comply with health department requests.

Vonderheide said the case, referred to the health department by a Lafayette social service agency, was the first court order he’d asked for, forcing someone to get treatment or stay away from the public, since the county declared a public health emergency in early March over the COVID-19 epidemic.

Vonderheide said tests came back negative for the man on Wednesday. Vonderheide said that “the case was done with at that point,” and the man was released.

Jennifer Layton, executive director of LTHC Homeless Services, said the man was a client at her Lafayette agency, which is working with 300 people, many in close quarters. Eleven LTHC clients – each asymptomatic but vulnerable to coronavirus because of age or pre-existing conditions – and one family are staying in a Lafayette hotel as a preventative tactic, as LTHC tries to stay ahead of the spread of COVID-19. In this case, Layton said, the man was referred to the county health department after showing symptoms, but he was reluctant to be isolated.

'It's not fair — to me, to my hotel ...'

Patel said he didn’t know about the testing. But he said the guest, whose stay was paid for by the county, checked out Wednesday and left by foot, carrying his bags.

Layton said Thursday that the man was back with LTHC Homeless Services, which offers day and night shelters, among other programs that offer temporary shelter.

On Thursday, after the room was wiped down and sanitized for the next guest, Patel said he was still wondering why he’d been left in the dark.

“It’s not fair – to me, to my hotel, to my other guests – when we are in a business of being in contact with people,” Patel said.

“If they were hamstrung by not being able to mention everything, then how do we, as a person, know what we’re saying yes or no to?” Patel asked. “I mean, we can play our part, as long as it’s not really involving us to be like a mini-hospital. We can help everyone we can, like everyone else is doing their part. But first, we have to be informed, with proper channels, not just dropping off.”

'Not a decision ... the health department takes lightly'

Dr. Jeremy Adler, Tippecanoe County’s health officer, declined to get into specifics when asked about the case – and whether the health department had even put someone in a hotel – on Wednesday.

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Dr. Jeremy Adler speaks during a press conference on a Tippecanoe County resident visiting Florida that Tippecanoe County health officials says is a “presumptive case” of coronavirus, Wednesday, March 18, 2020 in Lafayette(Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)

“But I will mention that measures like that are not taken very often by the health department,” Adler said. “That sort of approach is only used in extraordinary circumstances, where there is a true threat to public health and only when other approaches to solve the problem have not worked.”

Adler said that in his time as health official, a tenure that covers the past seven years, “we’ve only had to do that one other time.”

“It’s not a decision or action the health department takes lightly,” Adler said. “It is done only in absolutely necessary circumstances and as a last resort.”

Vonderheide said the county health department leans on an Indiana statute that says a county health department has to persuade a Superior Court of Circuit Court judge that a person has been infected or exposed to “a dangerous communicable disease or outbreak” is “likely to cause the infection of an uninfected individual if the individual is not restricted.”

Indiana Code allows the judge to issue an emergency order and force isolation or quarantine. The law specifies that “the court shall impose the least restrictive conditions of isolation or quarantine that are consistent with the protection of the public.”

The court order issued earlier this week in Tippecanoe County was sealed, so the particulars were not publicly available.

'The vast majority of people are compliant'

“This is nothing new for the health department,” Vonderheide said. “You remember H1N1. You remember ebola. You remember SARS. We have had these documents in place for at least H1N1 in 2009. The health department had this in place, way back when, when TB was more of a concern than it certainly is today.”

Vonderheide said the most recent case happened three years ago and involved a patient diagnosed with tuberculosis. He said that case flew below the radar, not making the news at the time.

Would that include forcing someone to wear a monitoring device, such as those worn by those convicted and on home detention? Vonderheide said that was part of the process.

“We want to know if that person is not staying at home and isolating or remaining in quarantine,” Vonderheide said.

“The vast majority of people are compliant – they do what they need to do to protect themselves and protect the public,” Vonderheide said. “The strongest issue that I’m pleased with is, this is the first one this time. And people are really suffering a lot of hardships because of COVID-19 and the closures required to protect public health. I was surprised I wasn’t called much earlier. …

“Fortunately, in this circumstance, the test came back negative. I’d rather be wrong 10 times and have 10 negatives after we’ve gone to court than to miss one positive.”

Why no heads up?

As for agreements or arrangements with motels or hotels to house patients when a judge issued an order, Vonderheide referred questions to the health department.

Khala Hochstedler, Tippecanoe County Health Department administrator, said she couldn’t comment further on the situation. She said Adler’s comments Wednesday would be the only official statement for the health department.

Patel said he had no agreement or contract with the health department. He said he wished he’d known before getting a clue from police, who said he might want to give a wide berth.

“Then we could have made a decision about it,” Patel said. “We could ask: Have you used all your resources? Does he have a home? If he doesn’t have a home, is there a pathway for him to be isolated somewhere? Or is this the ground where we isolate? What’s the guidance about what we should do and what this person shouldn’t do? And is this the answer – that I have no choice in the matter?”

Patel said he hadn’t been in touch with the health department or police since the man, cleared of a coronavirus diagnosis, checked out.

“We’re not a hospital – we are a small business, dealing with this situation like everyone else,” Patel said. “Information is what they tell us is important. Information at this time is better, so we can say yes to it, instead of just putting somebody up,”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.